巴斯克威尔的猎犬 巴斯克维尔庄园（8）

 

I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an interest on accountof the peculiar¹ ferocity of the crime and the wanton brutality² which had marked all the actions ofthe assassin. The commutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to hiscomplete sanity³, so atrocious was his conduct. Our wagonette had topped a rise and in front of usrose the huge expanse of the moor⁴, mottled with gnarled and craggy caims and tors. A cold windswept down from it and set us shivering. Somewhere there, on that desolate⁵ plain, was lurking⁶ thisfiendish man, hiding in a burrow⁷ like a wild beast, his heart full of malignancy against the wholerace which had cast him out. It needed but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barrenwaste, the chilling wind, and the darkling sky. Even Baskerville fell silent and pulled his overcoatmore closely around him.

那件案子我记得很清楚， 他的罪行极端残忍， 全部暗杀的过程都贯串着绝顶的暴行， 因而此案曾引起了福尔摩斯的兴趣。 后来所以减免了他的死刑， 是由于他的行为出奇地残暴，人们对他的精神状态是否健全发生了一些怀疑。 我们的马车爬上了斜坡的顶巅， 面前出现了广袤的沼地， 上面点缀着很多圆锥形的石冢和凹凸不平的岩岗， 色彩斑驳， 光怪陆离。 一股冷风从沼地上吹来， 使我们都打起了寒战。 在那荒无人迹的平原上， 这个魔鬼似的人， 不定在哪一条沟壑之中象个野兽似地潜藏了起来， 他内心充满着对摈弃他的那些人们的憎恨。 光秃秃的荒地， 冷飕飕的寒风和阴暗的天空， 再加上这个逃犯， 就益发显得恐怖了 。 即使巴斯克维尔也沉默了， 他把大衣裹得更紧了些。

We had left the fertile country behind and beneath us. We looked back on it now, the slantingrays of a low sun turning the streams to threads of gold and glowing on the red earth new turnedby the plough and the broad tangle⁸ of the woodlands. The road in front of us grew bleaker⁹ andwilder over huge russet and olive slopes, sprinkled with giant boulders¹⁰. Now and then we passed amoorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone, with no creeper to break its harsh outline.

Suddenly we looked down into a cuplike depression, patched with stunted¹¹ oaks and fus which hadbeen twisted and bent¹² by the fury of years of storm. Two high, narrow towers rose over the trees.

The driver pointed¹³ with his whip. "Baskerville Hall," said he.

丰饶的乡 区已落在我们的后下方， 我们回头遥望了一下， 夕阳斜照， 把水流照得象金丝一般， 照得初耕的红色土地和宽广的密林都在闪烁发光。 前面赤褐色和橄榄色斜坡上的道路益发变得荒芜萧瑟了， 到处罗列着巨石。 我们时而路过一所沼地里的小房， 墙和屋顶都是用石料砌成的， 墙上也没有蔓藤掩饰它那粗糙的轮廓。 我们俯望下面， 忽然看到了 一处象碗似的凹地， 那里长着小片小片的因年久而被狂风吹弯了的发育很坏的橡树和枞林。 在树林的顶上， 伸出了两个又细又高的塔尖。 车夫用鞭子指了指说道： “这就是巴斯克维尔庄园。”

1 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

2 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

3 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

4 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

5 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

6 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

8 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

9 bleaker   

阴冷的( bleak的比较级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的

参考例句：

• Horoscopes are merely harmless escapism from an ever-bleaker world. 占星术只不过是让人逃避越发令人沮丧的世界的无害消遣罢了。
• On the ground the mood is bleaker. 具体形势更加严峻。

10 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

12 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。